alexanderao Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 Hey everyone! I know it's been years since I've posted here, and most of you likely have no idea who I am. But even though I've been dormant, I've still been listening to pop music — admittedly, not as much as I'd like, but enough to make a little list this year. Join me as I reveal my 20 favorite pop songs of 2024 over the next few days!
alexanderao Posted December 30, 2024 Author Posted December 30, 2024 Honorable mentions: Tate McRae's tropical "greedy," Tommy Richman's bouncy "MILLION DOLLAR BABY," Ariana Grande's chipper "yes, and?" 20. Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - "Die With A Smile" It's hard to believe "Die With A Smile" wasn't written for a movie. With its smoothed-out sound and high-flying chorus, it feels like it should narrate a heroine's climactic moment. The content isn't particularly memorable — it's essentially a showier "Like I'm Gonna Lose You" — but this is exceedingly familiar territory for both vocalists, who display strong chemistry and convey ample emotion. It feels a little syrupy by the end, but who among us can't appreciate a good acting job? 19. Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen - "I Had Some Help" Each year there's a wide-open lane for songs evoking open roads and warm summer evenings; "I Had Some Help" took it with gusto. Incidentally, it stands as proof country-pop doesn't have to come with awkwardly aggressive tough-guy personas or endless mentions of trucks and beer. That's not to say this effort is groundbreaking — after all, the bridge is phoned-in, and despite Post's newcomer status in country, he sounds very much at home here. But his knack for thinking up melodies that burrow into brains in pleasant, rather than grating, ways elevates the end product substantially. 18. Madison Beer - "Make You Mine" "Make You Mine" wisely eschews the lengthy, overdramatic beat drop ubiquitous in early-2010s club staples ("Clarity," anyone?); the chorus break here is less a desperate play for attention than a subtle slip into a flow state, with buzzing synths swirling around hypnotic vocal bits. There's attention paid to the little things, as evidenced by the miniature melodic flip in verse two and the special effects toward the end. But nothing gets in the way; Beer's breathy delivery is simple and direct, letting the moody production take center stage. 17. Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone - "Fortnight" A slow burn sung in a solemn, restrained manner, the verses punctuated by vivid Swiftian turns of phrase ("your wife waters flowers / I wanna kill her"). Continuing the general trend of post-"Folklore" material that prioritizes storytelling over almost everything else, it stands among the more unhurried hits in recent memory, with gradually rising tension that makes it tough to appreciate if you turned the radio on at the minute-thirty mark. The reward? A sneakily captivating second half where the woozy instrumentation and vocal layering grow intense; before you know it, the emotionally charged outro has you in your feels. 16. Hozier - "Too Sweet" Sometimes, the secret to success is rather benign. For Hozier, it's a smooth groove with a neat little prechorus, a clap-along hook that goes down easy, and a croon more sophisticated than your ordinary top 40 vocal. Playlist filler has rarely sounded better. 15. Dasha - "Austin" A foot-tapping ditty with nicely rhythmic lyrics easy to dance to despite (because of?) its bitter tone. Don't let its TikTok-assisted rise to prominence fool you; this is no novelty cowgirl song, just skillfully executed breakup pop with pleasant country touches. "Austin" keeps things uncomplicated, wisely leaning on its cleverly structured chorus, which keeps you on your toes while a nifty guitar loop supplies the necessary catchiness.
JGibson Posted December 30, 2024 Posted December 30, 2024 greedy HM Austin + Too Sweet + Fortnight + Die With A Smile
Hollywood. Posted December 30, 2024 Posted December 30, 2024 Welcome back. Great start to the list, Die With A Smile.
alexanderao Posted January 1 Author Posted January 1 14. Noah Kahan - "Stick Season" Kahan's urgent guitar strumming and some thumping percussion turn this would-be ballad into a bona fide jam, equally appropriate for an intimate campfire and a packed concert. The rawness in his words and vocals, magnified by his matter-of-fact delivery, lends the song an intensely personal feel that makes it impossible to forget. 13. Chappell Roan - "HOT TO GO!" At its core, the best pop music is just plain fun (a fact some VIPs don't seem to appreciate). While the sugar-rush chorus draws most of the attention, this is a well-constructed track all around with a big personality. Chappell smartly straddles the line between whimsical ("a hundred ninety-nine degrees") and sultry, dropping a few clever one-liners along the way. "HOT TO GO!" moves briskly and bursts with energy during the frantic bridge. If it doesn't put a smile on your face, you're doing it wrong. 12. Khalid - "Heatstroke" The standouts in Khalid's discography, like his 2017 breakout "Location," have an elusive, inviting quality that transcends subject matter or tempo. They're auditory bear hugs, tracks fit for an especially homey coffeehouse on a lazy Sunday morning. "Heatstroke" captures a lot of this magic, its appropriately languorous structure enhancing the effect as his distinctly gentle vocals mix sweetly with a warm blend of guitars. It's more daydream than pop song; as the kids say, the vibes are immaculate. 11. Beyoncé - "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" The rollicking "TEXAS HOLD' EM" has a single gear, but it's a very appealing one. Gorgeous self-harmonies dominate the verses, while the hook is followed by a pleasant whistling section. Lyrically, it's as if "FourFiveSeconds" looked on the bright side of life, a vision Beyoncé sells capably if not with overflowing gusto. As you'd expect, though, her voice carries the tune; it's warm and inviting, just like the dive bars she romanticizes. 10. Gracie Abrams - "Close To You" A song that should make any Lorde fan do a double take; Abrams' breathy, pleading vocals bear more than a passing resemblance to the Kiwi singer, and they prove a perfect fit for this refreshingly youthful ode to a burning crush. The playful verses brim with genuine excitement, making for an unexpectedly wholesome listen. They're backed by a propulsive electro-pop beat that does more than enough legwork. That euphoric final chorus? Definitely worth waiting seven years for.
ARTPØP Posted January 1 Posted January 1 Sooo many amazing bops on your list! "Too Sweet" is probably my favorite out of all them Can't wait to see the rest of your top 10!
JGibson Posted January 1 Posted January 1 Stick Season + HOT TO GO! + Texas Hold 'Em + Close To You +
alexanderao Posted January 3 Author Posted January 3 9. Tyla - "Water" "Water" rides the strength of an irresistible rhythm all the way through. Overtly sensual but without distracting vulgarity, it exudes a turn-the-lights-down vibe that builds energy nicely, echoing similarly slinky house crossovers like Drake and Jorja Smith's "Get It Together." A piano drops in from time to time, sprinkling elegance on the verses. Tyla's performance is smooth, a tad restrained but certainly inspired enough to carry the song. Royalty checks from swanky lounges the world over should be coming in for a long time. 8. Kenya Grace - "Strangers" If all I knew about a song was that it laments getting ghosted by dating-app guys, I'd probably imagine a melancholic singer-songwriter track with cheesy zingers. But "Strangers" charts another path entirely. Grace deftly creates a liminal, made-for-night-driving soundscape to match her confusion: spacey sound effects, a solitary percussive beat.2 The track's quick tempo creates an unabating sense of urgency while preventing her ruminations from sounding self-indulgent. "One random night when everything changes / you won't reply and we'll go back to strangers," she coos hauntingly over the crisp breakbeat. An utterly magnetic slice of pop. 7. Sabrina Carpenter - "Espresso" "Effortless is a myth," Roger Federer proclaimed sagely this year, but you'd be forgiven if "Espresso" made you think otherwise. Rarely have punchlines seemed to roll off a pop star's tongue with such stupefying ease. On its face, it's a mindless stream of juvenile boasts, yet there's some incredibly creative lyrical work here, like the freewheeling invention of verbs ("dream-came-true'd it for ya") and the inimitable titular phrase. The production screams hot summer day, centering cheery percussion and funky synths that could convert the most stubborn pop hater. It's all wrapped up in the year's most interminably catchy hook — that guitar lick alone could placate a crowd for minutes. Who needs caffeine when you have "Espresso?" 6. SZA - "Saturn" The ethereal opening notes sound like tiptoeing into a strange room full of secrets to discover, and it only gets more immersive from there. SZA's journal-entry pleas to the universe sound desperate when read as text, but her voice carries such softness that the vibe of "Saturn" is more meditative reflection than aggrieved outburst. That warm bath of a chorus really does evoke "floating away" to another place. This is a breathtakingly textured production, one that demands you close your eyes and lose yourself inside it. Warning: side effects may include your imagination running wild. 5. Djo - "End of Beginning" "End of Beginning" unleashes the most visceral chorus I heard all year, a huge jolt of emotion with the power to open hippocampal floodgates. The instrumentation is mildly disorienting in the best way, with vaguely psychedelic guitars and beguiling synths that twinkle over the plain-spoken verses. "You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man," Djo insists feverishly at the song's climax, as if justifying this fact to his conflicted self. It's a shockingly poignant interrogation of wistful feelings.
potent Posted January 5 Posted January 5 HTG, Too Sweet, Fortnight, Texas Hold 'em were some of my favorites too End of Beginning getting its well deserved praise
alexanderao Posted January 15 Author Posted January 15 4. Chappell Roan - "Good Luck, Babe!" It's pretty simple: "you'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling" is as evocative a mic-drop as you'll ever hear. The unforgettable falsetto refrain, drenched in awesome shamelessness, deserved every second of the spotlight it got. And there's so much more, from a rad bassline (the song's unsung hero) to the positively riveting bridge. To freely apply a dreadfully overused term — "Good Luck, Babe!" is an anthem. In fact, I'm disappointed glitter confetti doesn't explode from my laptop whenever the final chorus hits. An instant classic, but you already knew that, didn't you? 3. Sabrina Carpenter - "Taste" While I haven't watched Japan's best sushi chef assemble a roll or heard any Nobel laureates give a lecture, I imagine it'd feel something like listening to "Taste." Taut and polished, it's a well-oiled machine at peak performance. Somehow every single line is punchy, with no syllable wasted (make sure you give Amy Allen her flowers); the end result is frighteningly efficient, two verses and two choruses fitting snugly into the first 90 seconds. It's all accentuated by headbang-worthy drums, the year's most satisfying post-chorus riff, and a shout-it-loud bridge that will never not release dopamine. For most artists, "Taste" would run the risk of sounding excessively corny, but Sabrina's unabashedly saucy delivery is so flawless all you can do is smile. Quite an impression, indeed. 2. Billie Eilish - "BIRDS OF A FEATHER" One can't help but be taken aback by the richness of Finneas' handiwork, an intoxicating blend of electronic and acoustic (you might even say hard and soft) with each layer resting delicately above the last as though it's some exquisite French pastry. It's a love song, sure, but the hard-to-miss undertones of impermanence make it distinctly Billie. And to no one's surprise, she turns in a deeply touching vocal performance, her sweetly sung love notes leaving us hanging on each phrase. A heartfelt final flourish unravels beautifully, with a spotlight-stealing belt so affecting it briefly blocks out everything else going on in your brain. The siblings have gifted us a completely fresh take on a concept as old as time. Insanely good. 1. Sabrina Carpenter - "Please Please Please" Grammy voters, if you wanna go and be stupid, don't do it in front of me. The year's most mesmerizing hook builds within itself, Carpenter's voice effortlessly dancing up and down, then ends in the most badass way possible: an exclamation-point F-bomb only she could pull off. These are stunning melodies; equally playful and tender, they easily stand on their own (a fact made obvious when the song is stripped down). But as soon as the shimmering opening synths kick in, Jack Antonoff's exceptionally lush production lends "Please Please Please" a dazzling dreamlike quality it never relinquishes. It brims with aural delights — those sweetly plucked guitars, that second-verse key change, the soaring bridge and heavenly ending sequence of ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhh-ahhh notes — that leave you in awe of something different each listen. Sabrina's acting chops help her span a full emotional arc, from irreverence to vulnerability to back-against-the-wall desperation, with an unmistakably strong dose of personality. It's too good to be true… except it's not.
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